The Regina Riot went on the road to tour their team around the province and energizing Saskatchewan's young girls while drumming up interest for both the team and the sport.
The club came to Estevan April 26 to run drills at Dana Quewezance Field in Woodlawn Regional Park with a handful of local girls attending the afternoon camp, despite the rain, to get a taste of who the Riot is.
Lisa Ziegler, Regina Riot general manager, said with their tour also stopping in Moose Jaw April 13 and Weyburn April 27, they are hoping to grow a strong base of female football players on the Prairies.
"Female football in the province right now is growing incredibly, with the Valkyrie in Saskatoon and the Regina Riot, two of the best teams in the league," said Ziegler. The only losses suffered by either of those teams in the Western Women's Canadian Football League have been at the hands of the other.
Female football has seen about an 11 per cent growth in Saskatchewan, including flag and touch along with the tackle sport.
"That's why we're coming here: to show girls there is a team for them to go to. When they start to look at universities, we want them to look at the University of Regina and say 'Oh I can go play football for the Riot.'"
She said for young girls looking to get into the sport, Estevan Minor Football is the place to start. The Riot also hold a fall camp, this year in October, where they welcome girls as young as 10 years old to run some drills and get a taste for the game.
"Minor football is where it all happens, and if they can stay in minor football, definitely join your high school football teams," said Ziegler. "Get those girls to keep coming out. When they see they can start playing for the Riot when they're 16 years old, that's a motivation to keep staying with that minor program."
This leg of the tour involved two parts to the day, one with skills and the other in full equipment.
"We invite the girls to go to each position, so they get a chance to try all the positions and see if something interests them more than the others," she said, noting football for both men and women has a position for every body type.
Throughout the tour, the Riot invited girls in the area to come and practice with the players and see the speed and calibre of the female game. It didn't matter if they had played any football before.
"There is a girl out here today, there's only one out of all of them who has played football. I heard that even the boys didn't want to go up against her in one-on-one drills," said Ziegler. "Being in Saskatchewan, we're the home of football, so girls know a little about football. Almost everyone who starts says they know nothing about football, and they're surprised how much they do know."
She noted many of the basics are the same as soccer or rugby or other sports.
The girls attending the camp ran through drills, but what they really got is a sense of what it's like to be on the field. The cold and the rain that welcomed them on Saturday presented the harshest elements the teams would play in.
The difference of football compared to other sports is the size of the team, said Ziegler who said their team has 45 players all competing toward a common goal of winning.
"This just shows how big football is. You have 12 coaches out here. We also have a training staff. We have extra volunteers. There's times when we have close to 90 people on the field. So the girls, when they're coming out here they get to see what it's like to be part of an organization."
While the competitive nature of the team is important, Ziegler added that being a steward of the community is prized by all Riot members.
"Growing the sport for all women is important for us, but it also means we're out in the community all the time. You're going to see us at every event," she said. Riot players played hockey against the Canadian Special Olympics team and have helped out through flood relief efforts. "Anywhere people are needed and volunteers are needed, you're going to see the Regina Riot. I think that's the experience you get. We are part of the community."
The Riot had seven players make the Canadian National team, which played at the World Championships in Finland last year. Ziegler said that with the team they have developing now, in three years, they may send 10 to the next world tournament.
"Dominating the Team Canada football team is something we want to do, because we want to prove Saskatchewan has the most amount of talent. We have three years to get girls ready, even girls working in the minor program in Estevan right now. If they work for three years, and they're able to keep coming to our camps in the spring and the fall, they could be ready for Team Canada in six years. It's exciting for us to keep putting that calibre of football out for girls."
